Finally, I am prepared to attach and blend the final rear section of the roof known as the “C” Pillar or “Sail Panel” as it is sometimes called. The position of the roof has been dictated by the chop on the A and B Pillars. As I had mentioned previously, the rear glass has been […]

For the B -Pillars we are continuing the process of strengthening and blending the area where we have removed material. The B-Pillar is tough because it is very easy to visually gauge if it is “off” or “crooked”. The process is simple enough, if care is taken and the steps are not rushed. If you […]

Now that I have my A-Pillar and upper door opening sufficiently strengthened with a “slug” inside of the metal cavity, we have to make these monstrosities look good cosmetically. As you can see in the first picture, there are a lot of body lines in the A-Pillar and none of them lined up when the […]

With the roof filler piece tacked into place I have two main goals: 1) make the roof structure secure and safe and 2) make the seam as “seamless” as possible. First: Safety. Welding a roof back onto a car after cutting it off is a sketchy proposition; the last thing you want to happen is […]

Now that we have determined the roof needs to be split laterally in order to align the b-pillars we have to get as many of the moving pieces locked into place as possible. I like to start from the front and go rearward. First, the A-pillars on the roof seem to be about 1” too […]

To this point the basic “chop” has been done, we are happy with the section which has been removed from the pillars and the resulting profile is where I want it. The next step is beginning to line everything up. At this point don’t be surprised if 80% of your helpers from the “chop” day […]

Now by “motors”, I of course mean your saw’s motor. It’s time to cut some metal. The order of cuts doesn’t really matter, usually you want your most important cuts to be made first while everything is nice and solid. After you cut a pillar or two, stuff starts to get a little loose and […]

How to Chop the Top on a Custom 50’s Pontiac Now that everything is securely tacked in place with full bracing above and below your cut areas, it is time to choose exactly what you will cut and where. Based on my drawing, the plan is to cut 4″ from the A-pillars and 6″ +/- […]

How to Chop the Top on a Custom 50’s Pontiac The first day of any major chop, channel or section project will surely see the largest turnout of “help”. Everyone you know will want to comer and be a part of something that could go one of two ways. First, they could say “I helped […]

Laying out a Custom or Hot Rod project before you start cutting and welding This is the stage of the design / idea conception process where you could go one of two ways. First, you could get all carried away and have CAD designs and 3D renderings done in Solid-Works or Inventor. A process that […]